The foundation is a charitable trust that helps low to middle income people into houses through a range of shared equity programmes.

His second stop was in Mt Roskill where he saw larger homes worth $400,000-$500,000.

''A lot of people are asking what can you build in Auckland for that money. We're saying if you can build these here so close to central Auckland, we should be able to build much bigger homes if we're doing it en masse.''

Kiwibuild would be overseen by Housing NZ but be undertaken by private builders.

The houses would be priced to cover costs, but would not be sold at a loss.

They would be restricted to first home buyers and buyers would have to live in them for a set time yet to be determined.

A penalty would apply if they were sold early.

The foundations properties are an excellent example of what could be built under Kiwibuild, MP Phil Goff said.

''These are at the higher end for middle income families, but there are still about $100,000 cheaper than most houses in Auckland.

''It's medium density housing, but its a nice density. It's not like infill housing where a house is crammed on the end of a property. They're well built.

''We're looking at rolling this out on a national scale. It would mean a young couple really trying to get off their feet would be able to get into their own home."

The MPs are meeting with the mayor this afternoon to discuss options for making land available for the project.